Audiobook Review: Bridesmates by Sydney Smyth

Synopsis:

After getting unceremoniously dumped by his boyfriend, the last thing Cooper Evans wants is to return to his hometown of Big Rock, Montana to be in his best friend’s wedding. But he agreed to be her Bridesmate (her male maid of honor), and a promise is a promise. What he didn’t expect is to run into his high school crush, who’s out of the closet and a smoking hot cop to boot.

Will Baker is just as dreamy as he was when he broke Cooper’s heart all those years ago – and it turns out he’s in the wedding party too. Will Cooper make it through the ceremony with his heart unscathed, or will he risk it all for a second chance at love?

Review:

Bridesmaids was the definition of ok. At no point during my listen was I blown away, but it wasn’t terrible either. The writing seemed to be pretty good but the whole thing lacked depth. I didn’t feel like I really knew any of the characters so therefore I didn’t root for them.

I genuinely think this would have benefited from being longer. At just one and a half hours this was actually very short. With a lengthier story, I think I would have liked this more. I could have learned more about each character and their relevance to the story and it also would have given more time for the romance to grow. Everything felt like it came around too quickly.

Speaking of romance, that popped up out of nowhere. No build-up or slow burn in sight. Even in the flashback scene, *spoiler* Will came onto Cooper with no preamble. This is the first time Will and Cooper interact so it seems very out of place. I get that this is a novella so everything has to happen quickly but it seemed too rushed.

Also this was a lot more explicit than I thought it would be. There aren’t any age ratings or warnings so beware of this if you are thinking of listening. I have nothing against this type of content but when the covers look like they are designed for younger people they should really come with content warnings.

The narrator did a very good job, but I didn’t like how he lowered his voice for Will. Nothing wrong with it, just personal preference.

If you are looking for a quick listen that’s pretty fun then I would recommend Bridesmates. There isn’t much to the plot though so don’t go into it expecting the best story you will ever hear.